Library Books and Rabbit Trails: A Full Yet Simple Way to Preschool at Home

I have dubbed my approach to homeschooling my preschoolers Library Books and Rabbit Trails. It’s simple and wonderful. We read books aloud and they do what kids do- they ask questions. I call their questions rabbit trails and enthusiastically follow them… into more books. The answers stock library shelves. More books generate more questions that…

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“Yet the Deeds Will Not Be Less Valiant Because They Were Unpraised”

I reread Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and was halted by a wisdom-packed conversation between dutiful brave Aragorn and glory-hungry complaining Lady Eowyn. So I chalked a fraction of it on my kitchen wall. Aragorn’s advice is not just applicable to a shieldmaiden itching for battle, but also to a woman at home doing quiet chores,…

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Natures Role in Children’s Natural Development; My Memories and Theirs

I remember being six years old living in a log cabin on Texas acres. I remember sitting on the porch watching a lightning storm with my dad. And watching deer at dawn from the panoramic window and sitting on a sun-bleached paddle boat on the pond’s edge and stuffing apron pockets with hillside wild blackberries….

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Are You Communicating about Social Justice too Harshly?

heatherpaiges.com

Individuals and organizations raising awareness about social justice issues may adopt one of two different approaches: harsh or gentle. One website may jar the senses with black and red block lettering then drive readers to tears with their emotive descriptions; their speakers might pound podiums and flash graphic images on power point slides. They believe…

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Story Time #5: Founding a Nonprofit Organization

This month, Love True launched its blog and invited me to join its crew of writers! For their first post, head blogger, Jackie, interviewed the founders (read Rebekah’s, Emily’s and my abbreviated responses at www.love-true.org.) Founding this nonprofit was a fat milestone on my faith journey. God taught me to pray and to wait then to follow him…

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Jesus is the Bread. He is Enough at Life’s Buffet and His Commandments are Not Condiments.

is just a foretaste of the great banquet to come when we will spend eternity in God’s marvelous presence. We can not attend the great banquet in its fullness on this side of heaven, but God promises that if we believe he is enough to satisfy us forever starting today then we can experience abounding joy, abiding peace and abundant life here on earth as well. When we eat our fill of Christ only, we will never hunger for spiritual sustenance (John 6:35). Like the widow whose baking ingredients miraculously were never used up, Jesus will never wane (1 Kings 17). Like the manna that fed the Israelites for decades, Jesus will never subside (Exodus 16). The trouble is we do not always choose His bread at the spiritual potluck.

I don’t know about you, but after communion, I want more bread. Maybe it is just because I come to church hungry. No, not figuratively- like literal belly-rumble hungry. A little pinch of a loaf doesn’t satisfy my stomach. I feel immature when my hunger for more bread interrupts my thanksgiving prayer for God’s metaphorical…

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#WomenNotObjects. Does Sensual Marketing Fuel Sex Trafficking?

The now viral #WomenNotObjects video highlighting ads that objectify women was posted on January 11- that’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Coincidence? Probably. But a link between sexual advertising and sex trafficking is hard to deny. The video’s creator, Madonna Badger, is a executive at Badger & Winters, an advertising agency that has committed to never…

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Linking Childhood Sexual Abuse to Sex Trafficking

Most people reading this article already know about and maybe even advocate for victims of sex trafficking. But many readers do not know about its correlation to childhood sexual abuse. Indeed, no other factor increases a girl or boy’s vulnerability to trafficking more than the memory of such abuse. [1] According to a report by the…

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Story Time #4: Mommas Care for Many Needs, But Who Cares for the Mommas?

My friend, Sue exemplifies the godly advice to “love the people in front of you.” Every week, she hosts a playgroup for over seven mommas and their toddlers. Sue meets an often unspoken but critical need for moms of littles: fellowship and rest.  Fellowship: Women need fellowship. Talking actually makes us happier. But for many moms in the babies…

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Snippets from Favorite Autumn Posts

I’m lamenting autumn’s pending ending. Especially this year, possibly the last of six beautiful years in New England where colorful hills spread like patchwork quilts. I love rereading old posts when seasons change. Here are snippets from a few fall favorites. “My favorites are the sugar maples. They are such a glorious red! I can compare the…

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Beat Poverty Before It Starts; Help an Orphan Aging Out of Foster Care

One quarter of the 400,000 children in the foster care system are waiting to be adopted. One quarter of those adoptable youth will not be adopted; rather they will be “emancipated” from care once they turn 18. For those youth, the future is dire and dangerous. Underfunded agencies help how they can, but most teens are thrust…

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Story Time #3: Addressing Forced Prostitution of Local Youth- the Efforts of Love True

Many of us, when we think of sex trafficking, picture Thailand or Moldova, not New Jersey. The truth is that the sex trade is big business here in the United States and most victims are not trafficked in from abroad. They are Americans, often as young as twelve years old, forced or coerced into prostitution by pimps that roam even the quietest of…

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